Neighborhood Planning Council 10 - Lakeview west

WESTALKE/PRAIRIEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL #10 Meeting Minutes September 26, 2016 The meeting was held at Lakeview Senior Living, 14661 S. Helmer, Battle Creek, Michigan Call to Order & Welcome Chair, Jeff Koteles called the meeting to order at 7:02pm with a moment of silence for reflection. Attendance: Members: Chairman: Jeff Koteles, Vice Chair: David Weaver, Secretary: Linda Patenaude, Tom Rose, Donna Kowalski, Diana Cole, and MaryJane Cipcic, Guests: Donna Jaegar, Helen Guzzo, Sandy Jacob, Randy Ramsey and Christine Kosmowski-water resource manager City staff: Eric Morris-city code and Derek Walters, BCPD Chair Notes/Correspondence/Announcements: Zoning Board of Appeals meeting is cancelled. Planning commission is reviewing the Keystone Lake Apartments and also a vacant site on Arbor Street. Additions/Deletions to the Agenda: David Weaver wanted to add traffic enforcement on 24th St and Gethings and Chalmers Rds Minutes: August minutes were unanimously approved as written in a motion from Dave Weaver seconded by Tom Rose. Police Report: Officer Derek Walters handed out written reports with statistics for our area. He is not in our area working anymore but is now a floating officer and has been assigned to our NPC. He reminded us again to secure our belongings by locking our cars, doors and windows. Five new officers have been hired, all from the county sheriff’s office. The police force is predicting that 25% of its force will be retiring within the next 5 years, They are adding a new title of Corporal before you reach the rank of Sargent for continuity of officer leadership. Speeding traffic in our residential neighborhoods is a major concern. Around schools seems to be very troublesome. Schools are staggering times to let children out but it seems there is no good solution with more and more parents driving their children. There will be a fund raiser Spaghetti Dinner on Oct 3rd to support the Shop with a Cop program. There will also be a Trunk or Treat program put on by the BCPD this year. If you would like to help or contribute please contact Mary Jane Cipcic at (269)965-1066 If you would like your property assessed for Crime Prevention please contact Officer Walters. Commissioners Report: none Committee Reports: a. Membership: 200 postcards were mailed out and we are happy to receive two new guests at the meeting tonight. Linda contacted the 3 members we have not heard from for a few months by postcard and she has not heard back from them. b. Beautiful Battle Creek Awards: 109 Sunnyside Drive was nominated. Need to get some more businesses. c. Neighborhood Planning: see Chair notes d. Woodland Park: Will participate in the Spooky Science. City is working on a new brochure. Signs are in storage just waiting for a good date to install. City Staff Report: Eric Morris handed out written code reports There are 2 new code officers hired for a total of 5 now. Junk Accumulation is the largest part of our report. Our NPC will be a featured NPC in we could 6 New Business: Linda motioned, supported by Dave Weaver, to add a School Board Report to the agenda in place of Neighborhood Planning under Committee Reports. Linda, supported by Dave Weaver motioned to Lakeview School District: Mary Jane Cipcic shared that the school traffic flow through Meijer property is back to the drawing board. There was apparently some miscommunication and Meijer thought it was only buses that would be using the cut through, not parents. Things are being negotiated. School board is working with construction people and the plan is for some construction to start in March 2017 at Minges and November at Prairieview Hired a firm to do a superintendent search. Old Business: Over many years our NPC has complained about the high speed of traffic on 24th, Chalmers and Gethings area. .David Weaver, seconded by Tom Rose, motioned to request a traffic study done on S. 24th St, Chalmers and Gethings areas for traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. Vote was unanimous in favor of the study. We will send this request to our Ward Commissioner Dave Walters. Special Presentation: Christine Kosmoswski and Randy Ramsey talked about the horseshoe pond water project which is a gravity flow trunk line. The main project seems to be working well. Lots of flooding has been alleviated. The pond by the church seems to be a bit high. The street drains may be plugged or not working and it seems to make the water table higher. The city and the county have very different jurisdictions and the street access drains are not part of the county drain systems they are the city’s responsibility. 2 large detention basins are being worked on along Columbia Avenue. There will be some lane shutdowns on Columbia Ave beginning Oct 10 while work continues. The Kalamazoo River Clean-up is Saturday Oct 1st and everyone is welcomed. Comments for the good of the order: None this evening Adjournment: 8:22pm Next Meeting: October 24, 2016 Submitted by Linda Patenaude Members who will not able to attend our meeting for an excused absence, please call Linda @ 269-962-8514